‘Honor Killing’: Muslim Father Charged With Daughters’ Murder Said He’d Do it Again…100 Times

163

Shares

Email this story to a friend

Mohammad Shafia (left), his son Hamed Shafia (center), and his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya (right) walking into their murder trial

Mohammad Shafia, a 58-year-old Muslim man, has been charged with murdering his three teenage daughters in an apparent honor killing. Shafia is now on trial two years after the young girls were found dead — along with his first wife — in the family’s vehicle back in June 2009.

Police wiretaps show an unrepentant Shafia in the days before he was officially charged. Disturbingly, he can be heard saying that he would take the same actions again — even if his daughters came back to life 100 times.

The crime was committed in the Rideau Canal, which is located in the Kingston, Ontario, area. Shafia, who moved to Canada from Afghanistan and who is polygamous, was also heard after his arrest telling his second wife that their daughters had brought shame on the family. Newser has more:

The wiretap evidence comes from the days immediately before Shafia was charged with murder. “Even if they hoist us onto the gallows … we have not done anything bad,” he says in the recordings, calling his daughters “whores” for having boyfriends.

In another instance, police recorded him saying that his daughters — Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13 – were “treacherous” and he likened them to prostitutes. And in yet another recording, the father can be heard proclaiming that his daughter’s graves should be desecrated.

The court has now heard these recordings in which he talks about his children and rails on about the family’s honor.

The police remove the car from the canal back in June 2009

His eldest daughter, Zainab, had married her Pakistani boyfriend, which seemed to infuriate Shafia. Apparently, his wife Yahya knew what this marriage meant that the young girl was “already done,” but she expressed hope that the other two children could be spared.

Shafia apparently also said that he was consoled after seeing images of his daughters. “Whenever I see those pictures, I am consoled,” he said. ’”I say to myself, ‘You did well. Would they come back to life a hundred times, for you to do the same again.’”

Yahya and Hamed, the couple’s son, are also on trial with Shafia — facing first-degree murder for their complicity. Hamed has denied being at the scene and all three have plead not guilty to murder. They are being charged with four counts of first-degree murder.